International Profile

Fatimata Kane, Environmental Sciences and Policy Student

Online learning has become an increasingly popular feature in higher education. International students are uniquely positioned to benefit the most from the online courses at Advanced Academic Programs (AAP). Students experience a prestigious US university without having to uproot their lives in their home country. Our highly-skilled faculty helps students tailor coursework to their distinctive cultural and professional needs.

An example of this personal touch can be found in current student and Moremi Initiative 2013 Milead Fellow, Fatimata Kane. Fatimata is pursuing her MS in Environmental Sciences and Policy degree with a concentration in Environmental Management from over 4,000 miles away in Dakar, Senegal.

Fatimata teaches A.P. Environmental Science and Sustainable Development at the Senegalese American Bilingual School in Dakar. Her primary research focus is on sustainable education and civic engagement. While receiving the training and expertise at JHU AAP, Fatimata continues to build upon her experience to make the world a better place. As a Milead Fellow, she represents Africa’s most promising young women leaders.

In her own words, Fatimata explains her amazing work for the sustainable movement in Africa:

What is your current research about?
My current research is on quantifying the relative roles of African indigenous vegetables (AIV) in poverty reduction in the drylands in order to assess the potential for sustainable practices that will improve nutrition-sensitive value chains of AIV for children and reproductive-aged women in the Millennium Villages project of Potou and to scale-up findings and lessons learned to other drylands countries. The aim of the project is to mobilize knowledge about African Indigenous Vegetables to leverage nutritional potential and strengthen the vegetable value chain in the Sahel.

Why is community and civic engagement important to you?
Well first and foremost, I believe that gratitude is an important characteristic of a leader. It is important to recognize the blessings received from our communities, and work hard to give back to them. In Africa, our parents are not the only ones who educate us, the entire community helps, and that is a beautiful thing. For my case, I do not believe that I would have been able to evolve as a leader, if I had not received such a great education from my community. They shaped me into the ambitious person that I am today, and have always pushed me to go beyond any limit. For those reasons, I can only be grateful, and dedicate my life to the service of my country and continent…

You are one of the 2013 Milead Fellows. What does this fellowship mean to you?

It was with immense pleasure and pride that I accepted the 2013-2014 Milead fellowship. With this fellowship I not only represent my country Senegal, I represent the continent of Africa. I never began the work that I do today, thinking that one day I would be identified as one of Africa’s most promising young women leaders. I just did it, because I felt that it was the right thing to do, after obtaining my Bachelor’s degree 2 years ago. Nonetheless, today, I am so very blessed to have met 24 other dynamic and inspiring young women leaders, doing incredible things in their countries. Our three week intensive leadership program in Ghana last summer, gave us exceptional tools to continue the work we do and go beyond our dreams and aspirations. It also reinforced our networking skills and created strong bonds between us.

To view Fatimata’s complete interview and other Environmental Sciences and Policy student interviews, visit the Highlight on Students page.